COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 163: He is not my friend, do you really believe it?

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"Damn it... Damn it, I... Even though I am the last one, at least praise me. I also tried my best!" Yamauchi was panting and pounding the floor of the swimming pool in frustration.

"Give up, Yamauchi," Ike said, his expression melancholic, as though he had seen through the futility of life. "As long as we have those two guys, Matsuoka and Hirata, in Class D, the girls will never look at us."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! There are definitely girls who like a pragmatic guy like me!" Yamauchi declared, his confidence unshaken.

Ike glanced at Yamauchi and replied perfunctorily, "Yes, yes, you are right."

"Ike, you think so too!" Yamauchi said enthusiastically.

"..." Ike looked at the confident Yamauchi in disbelief.

- No, buddy, do you really believe that?

- It's fine if I pretend to believe it—at least it'll give you some comfort.

- But how could you take it so seriously?

- You can fool your friends, but don't fool yourself!

Yet, Yamauchi firmly believed there must be a girl who wasn't superficial and would like him!

For example, Kushida!

With her huge breasts, she was clearly not the type of girl who only cared about appearances!

Meanwhile, Kushida, who was standing with the other girls surrounding Rin, suddenly shuddered. Once again, she felt the strange chill she had experienced earlier, as though something filthy was staring at her.

Uncomfortable!

Arata organized the remaining boys to participate in a 50-meter swimming competition. Among this group of boys were Hirata and Koenji.

Hirata had a well-built body and looked muscular. The girls who couldn't surround Rin turned their attention to Hirata, the second most handsome boy in the class, and cheered for him enthusiastically.

As Arata blew the whistle, the second group of boys jumped into the swimming pool together.

Hirata's swimming posture was standard and precise, but the boy who stood out wasn't him—it was Koenji!

Koenji's swimming style was extremely aggressive. His powerful movements created countless splashes of water, but despite the chaos, his swimming speed was extraordinarily fast, surprising Arata.

Without a doubt, Koenji won first place. Arata, who had already pressed the timer, looked at the time he took in the 50-meter freestyle.

"Twenty-one seconds and ninety-eight... That's incredible. Class D actually has two boys who are so good at swimming!" Arata exclaimed in amazement.

The minimum time for an international-level swimmer is 21.95 seconds, and the lowest time for an athlete is 23.28 seconds.

Koenji, who took only 21.98 seconds, achieved a time that classified him as an athlete. His result was second only to Rin's and higher than the standards for both first-level and second-level athletes.

Koenji Rokusuke, who had reached the shore, already heard Mr. Arata's exclamation. Instead of being satisfied with his impressive time of 21.98 seconds, he frowned.

The reason? Rin's result was 21.7 seconds—0.28 seconds faster than his!

Koenji, the only son of the Koenji chaebol, was blessed with first-class talents in all aspects. This made him naturally narcissistic, arrogant, and self-centered.

Koenji normally paid no attention to things he wasn't interested in, but upon discovering that Rin had achieved a result of 21.7 seconds, he couldn't help but feel the urge to surpass it.

Unfortunately, despite Koenji giving his best effort, he still couldn't surpass Rin's result, falling short by 0.28 seconds.

Moreover, Koenji knew very well that the gap between him and Rin in swimming wasn't just 0.28 seconds.

This was because Koenji had tried his absolute best, while Rin... clearly hadn't.

If Rin had also given it his all, the 0.28-second gap would have undoubtedly been even greater.

"Hmph, interesting. What an interesting boy," Koenji muttered, playing with his blond hair. "I didn't expect someone could be faster than me in swimming."

Now, Koenji genuinely wanted to know how long it would take Rin to swim the 50-meter freestyle if he used his full strength.

After all the boys had exited the pool, Arata announced loudly, "In the girls' group, the one with the fastest time is Onodera.

"In the boys' group, the fastest time belongs to Matsuoka!"

"Both of you, please wait for me outside after the swimming class. I will transfer 5,000 personal points to each of you."

As Arata announced the results of the competition, Chabashira, who had been watching from the audience, stood up with a satisfied expression. She had seen the physical fitness of Class D students with her own eyes.

It was completely unexpected and pleasantly surprising.

She hadn't thought Class D would have so many students with excellent physical fitness.

"Congratulations, Rin~"

To congratulate him, Karuizawa boldly stretched out her hand and touched Rin's abdominal muscles.

The combination of softness and toughness under her hand made Karuizawa feel excited.

Seeing this, the other girls also had mischievous thoughts and wanted to touch Rin's impressive abs.

"Don't touch me."

Rin angrily slapped away Karuizawa's hand, and the other girls couldn't help but show regretful expressions.

If Karuizawa had continued touching Rin's abs, they might have worked up the courage to try it as well.

What a pity.

Smiling at Rin and the other students, Arata said, "The rest of the time is yours. Enjoy swimming."

"Ooooooh!"

"But I'll be keeping an eye on you, so make sure to stay safe in the pool, understand?"

"Understood!"

Karuizawa, feeling joyful, tilted her head slightly and looked at Rin. "Rin, let's go into the pool. Teach me how to swim."

"Sure."

"Hey~ We're not very good at swimming either, Matsuoka-san. Please teach us too~"

"Yes, yes! Teach us too."

"Get out of the way!" Karuizawa, becoming more assertive, glared at the group of girls. "If you don't know how to swim, find a teacher to help you. Rin has already promised to teach me!"

"Hey, Karuizawa-san, don't be like that," Kushida said sweetly, putting her hands together. "Matsuoka-san belongs to everyone."

"That's right!"

Standing not far away, Horikita glanced at Rin, who was being surrounded and fought over by the girls.

The scene gave Horikita a strong sense of déjà vu.

She clearly remembered how, back in junior high, a group of girls would often crowd around Rin during lunch breaks, handing him lunch boxes, bread, rice balls, and other food.

When it came to food, Rin never let anything go to waste.

He would cheerfully declare that whether it was bento, bread, or rice balls, he'd take them all!

Horikita silently wished that this playboy would one day starve to death.